Wednesday, March 23, 2016

When I read Kate's challenge, I
thought of "Dansaekwha" which is my favorite art.

"Dansaekhwa" is a movement that emerged
in Korean painting starting in the mid-1970s, when a group of artists began to
push paint, soak canvas, drag pencils, rip paper, and otherwise manipulate the
materials of painting. Tansaekhwa means ‘monochrome
painting’ in Korean and was used by the critic Lee Yil in
1980 to refer to a group of largely non-figurative paintings painted in neutral
hues. Promoted in Seoul, Tokyo, and Paris, Tansaekhwa grew to be the
international face of contemporary Korean art and a cornerstone of contemporary
Asian art. www.venice-dansaekhwa.com

Painstaking Endeavor in Silence

Interest in monochrome painting emerged in the
Korean art community in the early 1970s and then spread like an irrepressible
wave in the mid-70s. Although originating under the influence of Minimal Art
from the West, it has taken root and flourished as a uniquely Korean art form
over the past 40 years.

But what is that makes Dansaekhwa distinctive from
Western monochrome art or Minimal Art? Professor Yoon explained that Western
monochrome painting and Minimal Art are rational and logical, based on
principles of mathematics and language, while Dansaekhwa is meditative and
holistic.

In contrast to the “empty
painting” of Minimalism, Dansaek­hwa reveals an intensity
of thought and labor as well as the depth of silence. Though limited to a
single color, it evokes a vivid feeling of the color’s
texture through multiple brushstrokes, repeated tens or hundreds of times. As
such, the density of black paint, which results from repeated brushstrokes,
cannot be achieved by broad, single strokes. "While
Western monochrome painting focuses on the visual, Dansaekhwa is of a tactile
quality and expresses the Korean philosophy of assimilation with nature,” explained Professor Yoon. “It is created
from an ecological, cosmological, and earthly viewpoint, in contrast to the
formalistic perspective of the West.”

With their works, Dansaekhwa artists seek to
internalize the aesthetics of “Korean spirituality,” such as blankness, contemplation, movement within stillness,
inaction of nature, and moderation, all based on a traditional principle of “going with the flow of nature.” All the
while they have struggled with themselves to master their own manner of
expression. As if cultivating the spirit, they express a transcendental state
of mind on canvas through their repetitive brushstrokes. Unlike such
Minimalists as Robert Morris or Donald Judd, who suggested concepts but had
their works made with industrial materials, Dansaekhwa artists sought to
express the truth of nature through rigorous physical dedication over decades,
like the monks who undergo arduous meditation.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I was ready for Kate's challenge after my dyeing experiment from the previous challenge using natural dyes; which, for me was really an exercise in using monochromatic material.

I was SO prepared for Kate's challenge.....that I jumped in the day after her post...and it was finished in no time. That NEVER happens. Usually I'm wrestling for some time...some times not very successfully.

Turns out, that was a very happy coincidence. I usually get my creative juices going with inspirations from my natural surrounding.

Feb and Mar in New England are REALLY monochromatic!

These pics are viewed from my studio. Brown, Brown, more Brown, Blue, teeny bit of Green. Hard to get the juices going.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Green is not my favourite colour, but I have been having fun playing with the many variations of this colour. Taking my garden as inspiration I dyed cotton fabric for a first layer and background of my design. My garden is in need for some care and attention, but I never seem to be home long enough.

Along the way I discovered a lot about this colour.

These are the first steps to completion. All will be revealed in April!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Solutions to adversities often found in peaceful moments. From natural
dyes, I learned that even splendid life ends in simple and solid colors. It is
the profound nature philosophy. This work is my visual feedback after experiencing
the earthquake.

Calming down and getting life back on track
after experiencing disasters is a life issue. When I was creating this work, I
experienced thedestructive earthquake in Tainan. It is hard to
imagine that buildings are falling apart due to crustal deformation and
bringing fears to the tranquil life. For this reason, I changed my design to
weaving instead of piecing, in hopes of finding stable latitude and longitude lines for my
broken homeland and recovering from the disaster speedily. There is no specific
horizontal sequence in my work. I wove it freely with curves to depict an alternative
beauty of rebuilt buildings with cracks.

The reds on the water lily are lac insects. They
absorb
nutrients from the host plants and produce red dye. The red dye
they produced creates gorgeous and rare hues on silk fibers. The composition of animal protein, lac insects and natural silk, make unique and precious colors.
Thank you Sue for the challenge!